Primary battery.



No. 880,689. PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

MGDOUGALL & S. R.y V. ROBINSON.

PRIMARY BATTERY.

APPLIGATION .ELD MAR. 9, 1907,

.4o electro yte, and are not in the way when the -50 portant vadvantage in surface action of thee erally eaten through WILLIAM M. MCDOUGALL, *or4 EAsr ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, AND s'rANLE-r R. VALENTIN aoBiNsoNoE NEW YORK, N. Y.

subieet of the King of Great Britain, respee.

normand.usefullmprovements in Priniar dear, and exactdescription.

. ing the battery,

35..- elements of the battery and the porous cell not e'x osed to the corrosive -bottom of UNiTED STATES PAT-ENTI oEEicE.

Peu/LAM BATTERY- Srectatien 0f Letters Patent- Pageatd March 3, 190e,

To all whom 'it may concer/a:

,Beitpknown that We, WiLLrAM M. Mc- Dnn'eArgL- and 'STANLEY R. VALENriNE RoB- INSON, a citizen.offtheUnited'Statea and a tively, residingat 'East Orange, county of Essen, andState of New-Jersey, andborough ofrooklyn, city and State of New York, respectively, have invented certain Batteries, of which'the following `is a ful vQur invention relates to electric batteries, the principal object being to improve, cheapen and simplify certain features of construction, to avoid local action, and generallymake the battery more efficient, durable and easily handled in use.

All-,satisfactory primary batteries require a porous .cell :to kee the exciting and depolarizing fiuids' of tlieelectrolyte separate. These hays commonly been made of earthencellsrenders the battery liable to breakage. The elements `of thebattery have also been looselyinserted from the top of the cell Where they are more or less in the Way when refilland are further exposed to the corrosive fumes which'arise from the -surface ofthe electrolyte. e

By the present invention we propose to have all of the parts, including both'of the4 beneath the surface of the liquid, and to have V,the connections firmly anchored at the bottornV of the cell and at a point where they are fumes from the battery is being refilled. For this purpose we support the various parts directly from the the cell, leadingthe circuit Wire connections through the. materialv thereof. I arts are firmly held by cement or pitch l h also seals all the openings and protects the' connections. This construction also keeps the elements entirely'submergedv beneath the surface of the fluid, Which is an imractice, because the l ectrolyte on vthe elements is very corrosive, so that they are genat this' point and destroyed before theyare consumed or ex- Ythrough the other there projects a support 5 of copper or copper composition which esupports the zinc element.

-a plate of arcuate form, drop Our invention consists therefore in the-fea'- tures of construction and combination by which .the foregoing purposes and objects are attained, as wi l be hereinafter more fully set forth, and finally particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The drawing shows a sectional view of a battery embodying the principles of our invention.

.Referring to the drawing, ldenotesa cup cell or receptacle,-Which is conveniently of glass, and.. which may be an ordinary tall glass tumbler.v 2 indicates a porous tube which is bestmade of unglazedearthenware of slightly less height than that ofv the .containing vessel 1. 3 and 4 are theelements of the cell for which We employ carbon and zinc respectively. All of these arts are held from the bottom of the containing vessel 1 iii the following way:

The .jar or vessel 1 has holes 6, drilled through its bottom Wall. The element 3 projects through one of these openings, and ledge or Local action between this copper support and the zinc element'4 which rests'upon it is prevented by the quick polarization of the copper support, since this part is-not exjosed to the action of the de-polarizer here-v inafter described. This ledge or support is shown with a screw 7, nut 8, and washer 9, for holding it rigidly to the bottom -of the cell. Such fastening means is not, however, absolutely necessary. tions are made by the wires 10 and 11, with the element 3 and the ledge or support 4, which therefore constitute the electric terminals, at the bottom of the cell. Thereafter a quantity' of pitch or cement 12 is poured in so as to firmly engage and hold all the parts in their proper relation, as shownin' the drawing. The zinc element 4 isl merely so as to rest on the ledge 5 an contact therewith.`

ln practice we find it very important to make electric have the ledge 5 extend upward in the slot e at least one-fifth of the normal height of the 105 electrolyte level therein. This is because the lcrystals at the bottom of the cell produce a very strong `solution thereat which would produce intense local action unless the contacting point betweenthe zinc .element and 110' sii The circuit conneced in the cell its copper vsupport werel raised above the.A level of this strong portion ofhe sc'rlution".`

The porous tube 2 surrounds'the element 3 and separates it j from the element-4. The' -porous tube and element 3 are conveniently placed concentrically in the cell. Itwill be noted that the pitch or cement 12 lows around and among all the parts and covers the bottom of the cell so that the elements and the porousl tube `are not only fixed in place, vbut the .porous tube, is efectuallly':

madea porous cup, and the elements. are

sealed'iuto their dplaceso that escape of. the fluid is prevente 4 While any desired/electrolytes may" -be used we find the-following' solutions to givef` very satisfactory results in practice: For the exciting fluidl outsidegthe porous cell,` sulfuric acid and water; forthe depolarizing fluid within the porous cell, sulfuric a'cid,.nitrateof Soda and water.

For thel urposes of protecting the glassjar or vesse 1, it is best to have an outside easing 13,'which 'may be art of the receptaole or installation in which the battery is to be placed. The battery is rmlyiixed in the casing 13 by flowing pitch or cement 14- around the jar 1 within the casing. The circuit wires 10 and 11 can bele'd out through a wall of the casing at anyv convenient point- 15. In use the battery isrnerely lled full of the necessary-electrolytes, which are very conveniently supplied, since the 'upper part of the cell is entirely open; The parts 2, 3 and 5i are firmly held by the body of cementV or pitch at the bottorn of the cell so that 'there is no looseness and'rattling and liability to breakage. The elements are in the most advantageous osition withiny the electrolyte, that is, cneath the surface. thereof when the solution is too weak, and

Ayet supported away from the ,bottom so as* their upper edves in a common eeoee i to be `free from the deposits and.' crystals which settle there, when the solution is too v' strong. All connections bein made lat the bottoms of lthe cells," it isevi ent that 'they' caribe'v convenientlyv made in oupswit a common gastlret sheet, or lpac g, may be clamped on a-number of cells simultaneously,

as shown in patent to Robinson, v#5545427', vFebruary k11, 189@ .t p p What we claim, is: A battery having ajar or ane, so that vl5o.

vessel having auf lcentral perforation at its lower face, acarbon ;y ,4

rod extending through said perforation and projecting upward `into' the cell, ametallic support larger at its upper )surface .than at its base andl also projecting 'thgoughjtlie l'601, substantially onef'fth of .the normal Huid V level therein` corresponding to thev abnormally strong portion ofthe 4electr.olyte' bottom of said jar' and extending upwardfol:

which is found around the cr stalsv-at'the bottom of the `cella porousptu e interposed between said support-and said carbon rod,`a layer of cement completely' surrounding said being of less height t face and at its bottom layers.

In Witnessvwhere'of', we subscribe our signa- 'I tures, in the presence of two witnesses.,l

WILLIAM MIMQDoUGnLL. s.v n. VALENTINE .itoejnIsoNl lllitnesses: v v

WALDO M, CHI/IHN; v MAY Bran 

